Peter Graves (actor)
| birth_place = Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States | death_date = | death_place = Los Angeles, California, United States | death_cause = Heart attack | nationality = American | education = Southwest High School | alma_mater = University of Minnesota | other_names = | occupation = Actor | years_active = 1942–2010 | spouse = Joan Endress (m. 1950–2010, his death) | children = 3 daughters | relatives = James Arness (brother, deceased) }} Peter Aurness (March 18, 1926 – March 14, 2010), known professionally as Peter Graves, was an American film and television actor. He was best known for his starring role in the CBS television series Mission: Impossible from 1967 to 1973. His elder brother was actor James Arness (1923–2011). Early life Graves was born Peter Aurness in Minneapolis, Minnesota, a son of Methodisthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=James_Arness&action=edit&section=1 parents Rolf Cirkler Aurness (1894–1982), a businessman, and his wife Ruth (née Duesler, died 1986), a journalist. Graves' ancestry was Norwegian, English and German. The family name originally was "Aursnes," but when Rolf's Norwegian father, Peter Aursnes, immigrated to New York City in 1887, he changed the spelling.Ancestry of James Arness Peter used the stage name "Graves", a maternal family name.James Arness, James E. Wise Jr. (2001) "James Arness: an Autobiography", ISBN 0-7864-1221-6, McFarland & Company Inc., Accessed March 15, 2010 Graves graduated from Southwest High School in 1944, and spent two years in the United States Army Air Force near the end of World War II. He then enrolled at the University of Minnesota on the G.I. Bill, and was a member of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. Career Throughout Graves' career he appeared in more than seventy films, television shows, and television movies. In the 1950s, Graves joined the NBC television series Fury, as the rancher and adoptive single father, Jim Newton.InBaseline Database http://www.inbaseline.com/person.aspx?person_id=4213901AmericaMovie Biographies (Peter Graves) http://www.americamovie.org/host_biographies.html Graves also was involved in the 1953 World War II film, Stalag 17, where he portrayed a German spy pretending to be a prisoner of war.Turner Classic Movies (Peter Graves) http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/75447%7C123968/Peter-Graves/ From 1960-61 Graves starred as leading character Christopher Cobb in 34 episodes of the TV series Whiplash.Turner Classic Movies (Peter Graves) http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/75447%7C123968/Peter-Graves/ In the story line Cobb is an American who arrives in Australia in the 1850s to establish the country's first stagecoach line, using a bullwhip rather than a gun to fight the crooks that he encounters.InBaseline Database http://www.inbaseline.com/person.aspx?person_id=4213901 The series also starred Anthony Wickert. Graves also starred in Court Martial as well as guest roles in such series as Alfred Hitchcock Presents,Turner Classic Movies (Peter Graves) http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/75447%7C123968/Peter-Graves/ Route 66 and The Invaders, In 1967, Graves was recruited by Desilu Studios to replace Steven Hill as the lead actor on Mission: Impossible. Graves played Jim Phelps, the sometimes gruff leader of the Impossible Missions Force or IMF, for the remaining six seasons of the series.InBaseline Database http://www.inbaseline.com/person.aspx?person_id=4213901AmericaMovie Biographies (Peter Graves) http://www.americamovie.org/host_biographies.html After the series ended in 1973, Graves played a cameo-type support role in the feature film Sidecar Racers in Australia which was released in 1975. Graves also made a guest appearance in the teen soap opera Class of '74 in mid-1974, playing himself.Turner Classic Movies (Peter Graves) http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/75447%7C123968/Peter-Graves/ Graves was cast as Palmer Kirby in the 1983 ABC miniseries, The Winds of War.Winds of War at the Turner Classic Movie Database http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/484716/Winds-of-War-The/ He played opposite Robert Mitchum, Jan Michael Vincent, Deborah Winters and Ali McGraw in what became in '83, the second most watched miniseries of all time (after Roots).In 2011 WOW remained number 4 of most watched miniseries http://listverse.com/2010/09/28/top-15-miniseries-of-all-time/AmericaMovie Biographies (Peter Graves) http://www.americamovie.org/host_biographies.html After playing mainly serious roles in the 1980s, he acted as Captain Clarence Oveur in the comedies Airplane! and Airplane II: The Sequel. InBaseline Database http://www.inbaseline.com/person.aspx?person_id=4213901AmericaMovie Biographies (Peter Graves) http://www.americamovie.org/host_biographies.html In 1988 a Hollywood writers' strike resulted in a new Mission: Impossible series being commissioned. Graves was the only original cast member to return as a regular (although others made guest appearances).InBaseline Database http://www.inbaseline.com/person.aspx?person_id=4213901 The series was filmed in Australia, and Graves made his third journey there for acting work. The new version of Mission: Impossible lasted for two seasons, ending in 1990. Bookending his work on Mission: Impossible, Graves starred in two pilot films called Call to Danger, which were an attempt to create a Mission: Impossible-style series in which Graves played a government agent (the Bureau of National Resources) who recruited civilians with special talents for secret missions. InBaseline Database http://www.inbaseline.com/person.aspx?person_id=4213901 The 1960s version of the pilot, according to Patrick White in The Complete Mission: Impossible Dossier (which White reports was actually the second such pilot, but Graves was not involved in the first), is credited with winning Graves the role of Phelps; after Mission: Impossible ended in 1973, Graves filmed a third version of the pilot (this one structured as a made-for-TV movie), but it did not sell as a series. The concept was later used in the brief 1980s adventure series Masquerade. '' (1995) with Charlton Heston, Mickey Rooney and Deborah Winters]] During the 1990s, he hosted the documentary series Biography on A&E.InBaseline Database http://www.inbaseline.com/person.aspx?person_id=4213901 He also acted in a number of films featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000, which subsequently featured running jokes about Graves' Biography work and presumed sibling rivalry with Arness. The films that have been featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000 include SST: Death Flight, It Conquered the World, Beginning of the End, Parts: The Clonus Horror, and an uncredited voiceover in Attack of the Eye Creatures. The film Killers from Space was featured in The Film Crew, Michael J. Nelson's follow-up to MST3K.InBaseline Database http://www.inbaseline.com/person.aspx?person_id=4213901 Graves himself parodied his Biography work in the film Men in Black II, hosting an exposé television show. He also played Colonel John Camden on the television series 7th Heaven. In 1995, Graves starred with Charlton Heston, Mickey Rooney and Deborah Winters in the Warren Chaney docudrama, America: A Call to Greatness.America: A Call to Greatness Website http://www.americamovie.org/homepage.html In the 1996 film update of Mission: Impossible, the character of Phelps (played by Jon Voight) was re-imagined as a traitor who murders three fellow IMF agents only to be killed himself at the end of the film, a decision that disappointed Graves. On October 30, 2009, Graves was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. AirTran Airways featured Graves in a series of web-only "Internetiquette" videos in 2009 in which Graves appeared in a pilot's uniform and references classic Airplane! lines."Internetiquette" AirTran Airways. Retrieved 2010-03-15. The videos were part of an AirTran Airways campaign to promote their in-flight wireless Internet access. In the summer of 2009 Graves signed on as a spokesperson for reverse mortgage lender American Advisors Group (AAG).http://www.aargreverse.com Graves appeared in a national commercial in which he educated seniors about the benefits of reverse mortgages.http://www.aagreverse.com/peter-graves-reverse-mortgage.shtml Graves' final project was narrating the computer game epic Darkstar: The Interactive Movie,http://www.famousdead.com/peter-graves/ released November 5, 2010. Personal life at the Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park]] Graves was a devout Christian.Guardian obituary He was married to Joan Endress from 1950 until his death. Their marriage produced three daughters: Kelly Jean, Claudia King and Amanda Lee,TCM biography. all of whom survive him. Graves had six grandchildren.USA Today Obituary Death After returning from a brunch on March 14, 2010, Graves collapsed and died of a heart attack at the age of 83. It was reported that one of his daughters attempted to revive him, but was unsuccessful. Awards Graves was awarded a Golden Globe Award in 1971 for his role as Jim Phelps in the series Mission: Impossible. He also received nominations for an Emmy Award and Golden Globe awards in other seasons of that show. Graves also won a Primetime Emmy Award for outstanding informational series in 1997 as host of ''Biography''. References External links * * * * * Biography and filmography at Brian's Drive-In Theater * Peter Graves at The New York Times Category:1926 births Category:2010 deaths Category:20th-century actors Category:21st-century actors Category:American Methodists Category:Actors from Minnesota Category:Actors from New Jersey Category:American people of English descent Category:American people of German descent Category:American people of Norwegian descent Category:American expatriates in Australia Category:American film actors Category:American television actors Category:American television directors Category:American military personnel of World War II Category:Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (television) winners Category:Cardiovascular disease deaths in California Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction Category:People from Minneapolis, Minnesota Category:People from Sussex County, New Jersey Category:Spaghetti Western actors Category:University of Minnesota alumni Category:1926 Category:2010